


Eventuality

by Westbrook



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Aftermath, Drabble Collection, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Reflections on the Death of a Loved One
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-23 08:29:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3761566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Westbrook/pseuds/Westbrook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What comes to us all, and what follows after. Drabbles of reflection on loss and love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ivan

**Author's Note:**

> All of the characters and associated locations and names, save for original characters of my own design, are the property of Lois McMaster Bujold, who is a far better writer than I shall ever be! Please do not set the lawyers on me.

The coffin was too small. 

Absurdly, that was the thought that crossed Ivan’s mind. 

The coffin was too small to contain what it did. The force of personality, the wit and the will and the drive, the soul his Aunt Cordelia spoke of, the spirit that had burned like a star.....  
It couldn’t all fit in such a small space. 

But it had for 70 years, that light, and even stars burn out.

Ivan Vorpatril sat by the casket that contained the body of Count Miles Vorkosigan, and wondered how he would bear the enormous weight of that small coffin.


	2. Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What comes to us all, and what comes after. Reflections on love, loss and grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know when I'm going to end this, or how long it might go on. It will probably just be once in awhile, when I feel like I have a story.

He doesn’t look in mirrors anymore. Not since…..

Kareen has noticed, but she hasn’t said anything yet. She just adjusts his suit as needed, or tells him he looks fine. 

He and his Betan therapist had discussed that he had hated how he looked, how there was nothing of himself in his appearance. How he had been molded to look like someone else. He wasn’t looking at mirrors then either, but with help he’d learned to tolerate them.

Now, no matter how much weight is distorting it, all Mark Vorkosigan sees is the face of the brother he has lost.


	3. Cordelia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What comes to us all, and what follows after. Drabbles of reflection on loss and love.

There is a very old Old Earth saying: “No parent should have to bury their child.”

Cordelia Naismith is 112 years old, nearing the end of her Betan guaranteed hundred and twenty. Never mind that her brilliant Miles saw nearly three fourths of a century of life, he will always be too young to go into the ground at Vorkosigan Surleau.

Standing with her daughters on her left and Mark on her right, Gregor, the child of her heart across from her, all she can do is pray that she will not have to bury any more of her children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided to scratch an itch that had been at the back of my brain, and make myself sad at the same time.
> 
> Consider this a spiritual successor to "Aftermaths," the drabbles that followed **that line** at the end of _CryoBurn_.
> 
> As always, comments, questions, notes, feedback and emotional outbursts are welcomed and appreciated! I will do my best to reply as promptly as possible.
> 
> P.S. If someone could tell me how to make the notes appear at the end of each chapter, or at the end of the work as a whole, I would appreciate it! I'm bad at technical things. Thanks!


	4. Gregor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What comes to us all, and what follows after. Drabbles of reflection on loss and love.

_“lifetime of dedicated, passionate service……brilliant leader…..devoted father and husband…..”_

Gregor Vorbarra stares at the words on the screen of his comconsole.

These are some of the phrases that his speechwriters have given him. And while they are correct, they are bland, trite, meaningless, capturing nothing of the essence of Miles Vorkosigan. Gregor wants a speech that will tell the whole Nexus of the worth, the value of Miles, wants a speech that will sear Miles into the minds and souls of those listening. 

Most of all, Gregor wants a speech that will bring his brother back to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, notes, comments, concerns, questions and other feedback are supremely appreciated.


	5. The Dendarii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What comes to us all, and what follows after. Drabbles of reflection on loss and love.

Bad news can travel faster than light.

This news scattered across the interstellar reaches, and soon an order descends from high, Fleet-wide, from the Old Lady herself, a personal memorandum: Assemble at Komarr. 

They come as fast as possible, as many of them that can. They would have come, out of respect, Old Lady or not, but her reaction adds impetus. 

The Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet gathers in space, thirty ships strong, the finest in the Nexus. In gray and white dress uniform, as one, they lift their glasses or bulbs, and say solemnly, “To Admiral Naismith. To the Admiral!”


	6. Rian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What comes to us all, and what follows after. Drabbles of reflection on loss and love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the characters and associated locations and names, save for original characters of my own design, are the property of Lois McMaster Bujold, who is a far better writer than I shall ever be! Please do not set the lawyers on me.

Fast couriers bring word to the heart of the Cetagandan Empire. _Haut_ Rian Degtiar, Handmaiden of the Star Crèche and Empress, takes it with a calm façade, but inside, she is stricken. 

The little Barrayaran is dead. It has been half a century since she laid eyes on him in person, but he still…. lingers in her heart, mind, soul. Though she catches…glimpses, of him, in her genetic contribution to the haut-her _son._

Later, dressed in purest white robes, the _haut_ Rian will cut off a foot of her dark hair, and alone, burn an offering for Miles Vorkosigan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, notes, comments, concerns, questions and other feedback are supremely appreciated.
> 
> I'm firmly of the opinion that Miles's genes, having been taken up into the haut, would be utilized and disseminated; and that Rian would have certainly used them for her offspring, the future Cetagandan Emperor.


	7. Bel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What comes to us all, and what follows after. Drabbles of reflection on loss and love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the characters and associated locations and names, save for original characters of my own design, are the property of Lois McMaster Bujold, who is a far better writer than I shall ever be! Please do not set the lawyers on me.

Bel Thorne comes to the Dendarii meeting over Komarr by special courier. It stands with the Old Timers, the former Inner Circle, crying harder than almost any of them. 

The herm returns to Quaddiespace, older, wearier. Some essential spark has gone out. Nicol and its’ children do their best, and eventually, life returns to their eyes. 

The worlds turn, and age. Bel Thorne lives another fifteen years. 

And when it finally passes, Nicol at its side, its family around it, when it calls for “Miles,” no one know if it is its’ son it is calling for, or its’ Admiral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, notes, comments, concerns, questions and other feedback are supremely appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I decided to scratch an itch that had been at the back of my brain, and make myself sad at the same time. 
> 
> Consider this a spiritual successor to "Aftermaths," the drabbles that followed **that line** at the end of _CryoBurn_.
> 
> As always, comments, questions, notes, feedback and emotional outbursts are welcomed and appreciated! I will do my best to reply as promptly as possible.


End file.
